Hundreds gather to remember 6-year-old Sir’Antonio Brown - KCTV 5

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The narrow section of N. 31st Street near Greeley was packed with people Wednesday night.

It had been exactly a week since 6-year-old Sir’Antonio Brown, known affectionately as Sir, was killed in a barrage of gunfire while playing on his bike in his grandma’s front lawn. A speaker at a house across the street was booming with music. On the lawn where he was killed as the sun was still bearing down, at least 20 children were chasing each other, jumping on a trampoline, their laughter belying the gravity of what happened there.

“The kids have not lost their joy one bit. They have been so pure the whole time,” said Destiny Thomas, whose 4-year-old is Sir’s cousin. “Always lots of love, lots of kids. That’s how we roll.”

Balloons started arriving more than an hour before a planned vigil. In a metro where gun violence is nearly a daily occurrence, the word vigil can generate a mere shoulder shrug for some. But not every vigil brings the mayor and the police chief to the microphone.

“We stand with you. We support you. And we love you,” Mayor Tyrone Garner said.

“Thank you. We need it,” people in the crowd echoed after each sentence.

Sir loved riding bikes. Three of his bikes surrounded a makeshift memorial in front of the house. Below one of them was a vest with the Cobra Kai logo. That’s the title of a TV spinoff of the Karate Kid movies. He wore it for his last birthday.

A man approached the microphone holding something in his hand. He ran a karate academy, saw in a news report that Sir loved karate, then checked with his instructors. He found out Sir had attended their after-school program. His voice quavered as he turned to Sir’s family to hand them what he was holding.

“We wanted to present an honorary black belt for what could have been,” he said.

What could have been a joyful, loving, beautiful man is now a child “forever 6,” a phrase seen on t-shirts in the crowd.

“We just want to raise awareness and make it bigger than the six-year-old who was killed on his bike,” Thomas said. “And we don’t want to see that anymore.”

Many of the faces in the crowd, what looked like a third of them, were children.

On the heels of an arrest for obstruction, Police Chief Karl Oakman spoke in a tone that seemed a little like a sermon, with voices of affirmation from those gathered punctuating each sentence.

“We’re going to find who did this and put everyone involved in jail,” Oakman said, as his voice grew louder and more defiant. “Let me say that again. Not just the three shooters, everyone that’s involved who’s hiding information is going to jail!”

The woman charged with obstruction owns the car police believe the homicide suspects were driving and firing from on the night of the deadly shooting. She is accused of lying to police to obstruct prosecution of the killers, who have yet to be arrested or charged.

Previous coverage:

‘We are Sir Strong’: Family of slain 6-year-old raises money for funeral expenses

KCK police continue investigation into shooting of 6-year-old boy

KCK police search for suspects after 6-year-old is fatally shot while playing outside

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Hundreds gather to remember 6-year-old Sir’Antonio Brown - KCTV 5
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